I wouldn’t let Lucy know how far deep that despair dug into my soul, though. It’d been too long; if anyone was looking for me, they should’ve found us by now. Seven days was far,fartoo long. Chances were that Carlyle wasn’t even looking for me- Hell, he was probably celebrating my being missing. He was so damn impatient that if he wanted to, he could’ve found me before I even ended up in this fucking hole.
Oran was much more patient, but even then, with the resources available, an entire week . . .
“Mateo.” The weak slur stole my attention, and I blinked as Lucy reached to caress my cheek. She always looked concerned, always sympathizing, and always had those big, blue eyes trained on me. “You look sad.”
“Once we get outta here, you should go back to your life.” I covered her palm with mine as a pained expression flickered on Lucy’s face in the gloom, and her touch bristled the hairs on my face. “I have the utmost faith you can bounce back from this.”
“Will I ever see you again?” Lucy and I should’ve never met, and I cracked a small smile as she scratched my thickening scruff with a thoughtfulness blazing in her eyes. “You probably clean up real nice, Mateo.”
“Idoclean up real nice!” I forced myself to laugh, and Lucy chuffed a little giggle much more genuine than mine as her palm fell from my jaw. Rubbing my jaw and the back of my neck, I struggled not to itch the higher wounds on my back. That salt shit made it almost unbearable, but like everything else, it just faded into the background. “You know, Lucy, I’ve done so much that I’m not proud of. I was a person I was ashamed of. A couple months ago, I started calling my brother, Oran. He’s younger than Carlyle but older than me. At the time, I was so unhappy with my life— I felt so useless and like I was disappointing everyone. I guess, having this happen kinda put me in a better spot than I was before.”
“That’s messed up, but . . . that makes me really happy, Mateo.” A slick, self-maligned grin stretched my lips, but it was too dark for Lucy to really see the fine workings of my face. Her emotions played so brightly, they were impossible not to see, and the darkness only enhanced them. All this time, I kept telling herdon’t freak outandkeep calmandtry to distract yourselfbut, really, the only thing to distract us was each other.
Captivity drew people together, which was what those grease monkeys wanted, but why hadn’t they acted on it, yet? There were no cameras in here, no one to monitor what we were doing and saying, and I’d bet my fucking left nut that the Italians had very little security. That just seemed to be how they rolled— bumbling around blindly with a loose plan that had no details thought out.
I blinked when the bar locking the door from the outside scraped against the metal frame, and my heart leaped into my throat. Standing up as Lucy curled up in the corner, I clenched my hands into tight fists as all that irritation that’d built up the past week set fire to my insides. I was damn sick and tired of waiting, and if no one was going to come after me, Lucy and I were gonna get the fuck out on our own.
But when the door flung open to bang against the wall, it wasn’t some disgusting Italian that stood in the threshold, and surprise nearly ripped my brows off my face.
“Theo! Dude, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!” Theo cracked a smirk, dark and ugly, but not a scowl, and astonishment heightened my voice. He stepped into the concrete box, and my knees wobbled dangerously as Oran stepped out from behind him. “Why didn’t we hear anything?”
Was this a dream? Was I hallucinating? Had I finally just lost my shit? Striding over to Oran, I flung my arms around him, and he cupped the back of my head as I hugged him tight. His smell wafted up my nostrils, and tears pricked my eyes as relief flooded my veins.
“I hate guns, you know that, Mateo. Besides, Carlyle’s kicking up all the fuss, and, boy, is he pissed. Theo and I came to get you quietly.” The sound of Oran’s voice was like Heaven’s hymns, and I rocked back on my heels to grab his face. Holding a hand to my chest, he scrunched up his nose in disgust, but the dancing in his eyes betrayed him. “Don’t kiss me or anything. Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, yeah. You guys are by yourselves? Just the two of you?” Oran shrugged, and I whipped around as Lucy struggled to her feet. Relief and excitement to be free, and a barrage of other emotions stole my breath, and I started for her before Theo held out an arm to stop me. My nose clogged as he swept her off her feet, and she practically passed out instantly from the vertigo.
That was good, though, because I didn’t want Lucy to see or hear me.
“My driver’s outside. We need to get you some medical treatment, Mateo. We’re going to burn the place down.” Clapping a hand on my shoulder, Oran’s deep timbre skittered along my skin, but I couldn’t make my legs move. Theo carried Lucy’s limp body through the threshold, and only once she’d disappeared did my knees finally give out on me. “Hey! Okay, okay, alright. You’re okay.”
Catching me before my head cracked on the floor, Oran’s arm slithered around my lower back, and he grumbled as his skin glued to me. Panting and shivering furiously, I struggled to wheeze past the dense lump in my throat, and my brother held my head to his shoulder comfortingly.
“I w-was starting to think . . . I thought . . . I . . . ” Sputtering as hot tears streamed down my face, I gasped willy for air, and Oran stroked my face as his jaw ticked hard against my forehead.
“Carlyle refused to let us go until he started his own operation. Theo was actually the one that fought him on it, but, obviously, we lost. What about you, huh, Mateo? How’d you hold up?” I bawled like a baby, and I didn’t even care. The only thing that mattered was that we were gonna see the sun again. Lucy was going to wake up in a hospital bed, safe and sound, and me . . . “The last time we spoke, you said ‘goodbye’ to me. I was so worried when you went missing.”
“I’m t-too much of a pussy to k-kill myself.” Oran chuckled dryly at that, and he hoisted me up with a grunt as I leaned heavily against him. Sniffling hard, I rubbed my face with my free hand and managed a shallow breath. Too many things crammed in my chest for much more than that, and I hiccupped a sob as I wiped my tears away. “Oran, I . . . I don’t know how t-to explain it.”
“Well, you have time to think about it. The ambulance is right there.” Outside the room was a flight of stairs leading to a pretty average looking, smallish house, and I glanced around at the bodies on the floor. My toes curled as I shuffled heavily along, but I didn’t stop to kick the lifeless husks. Who knew if I could get myself moving again? Hobbling my way through the living room, every piece of furniture was a blur, and I covered my eyes as we breached the front door.
The nighttime air caressed my face, and I closed my eyes to savor it. All the tension in my shoulders seeped into the soft grass when the I stepped off the path that led to the sidewalk. There was no moon, no whirring, bright lights of emergency vehicles, and Oran held me up as I stood in the grass.I wish I could take off my shoes.
“Where are we, anyway?” Gazing up at the stars, I licked my lips heavily, and Oran adjusted his grip on me gingerly. “Lucy . . . she’s from Tennessee, so . . . ”
“We’re currently in the great state of Virginia. When you wake up again, we’ll be at the nearest hospital. Dad’s worried about you, kid— as worried as he can actually get.” Jerking my head in a nod, I started toward the quiet ambulance, and my brother passed me off to the paramedics to pull off his shirt and wipe his arm. “Knock him out. We got a long way to drive.”
5
Lucy
A soft, weighted blanket draped my shoulders, and I cracked my eyes open to find a face I didn’t know watching me critically. Right now, I didn’t even have the energy to feelanything, and I squeezed Mateo’s hand just to make sure he was there. I didn’t even the energy for anything else, to even close my eyes again, and the crisp, coarse sheet that covered him stuck to my cheek as my brain puttered to life.
“Your name is Lucy, right? Lucy Voight?” The deep, solid voice was heavier than the blanket, and I groaned softly in agreement as the guy pulled up a chair next to mine. “I’m Oran, Mateo’s brother. I don’t want to bombard you right now, but there’s some things we need to talk about concerning what you’re going to tell people, Lucy.”
“Just tell me what to say.” My slur earned me a frown, and I somehow managed to find the strength to lift my head. Every part of me was heavy, slow, and I yawned hugely as Oran watched me through narrowed eyes.
“Well, what you say depends on how well you can tell the story. I don’t think it’s wise to tell people you were kidnapped by the Italian Mafia and subsequently saved by two random guys that basically ninjaed their way into the place.” Despite the humor in his tone, Oran’s frown didn’t falter, and my gaze found his dazedly as he leaned back in his seat to cross his knees. “You disappeared for a week, so thereisan organized effort to find you, Lucy.”
